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Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Bouw: past geocentrists- any Lutherans? (Schöpffer) Copernicanism Part 13c-1

[2020-12-01: added info in red ink below]
      This continues from Part 13b, a series on Copernicanism and Geocentricity (see Intro & Contents in Part 1) in response to a letter from a young person ("Josh") who asked if I believed Geocentricity ... and did not ridicule me in his question.
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      Continuing with Dr. Gerardus Bouw's book, Geocentricity: Christianity in the Woodshed, I next want to review some persons in his listing of "geocentrists".    He distinguishes 2 groups: 1.  those from the 1800s and up to 1950 in Chapter 25; and 2.  modern geocentrists after 1950 to the present in Chapter 38.  This blog sub-series (13c-1, 13c-2, 13c-3) focuses on some in his early group from the 1800s to the early 1900s.  This first one is one that should be better known today.

Dr. Carl Schöpffer (or Schoepffer) (before 1830 - after 1881)
      Dr. Bouw states that he was "...most likely the greatest geocentrist of the nineteenth century". (pg. 360)  He then presents the impressive scientific writings of Schöpffer with his analysis.  As early as 1854, Schöpffer published in Berlin several editions of a lecture Die Erde steht fest. –  Here it can be noted that the only library in America that holds a copy of any of these is in ... Cornell University!... the university that Andrew Dickson White built!... to restore religion! – Bouw later informs us that J. Watts de Peyster, a Brigadier-General during the Civil War, had Schöpffer's lecture translated into English: The Earth Stands Fast.
      Bouw credits August Tischner in his book The Fixed Idea of Astronomical Theory. (pgs 33 ff.) with an impressive array of famous German scientists who at least had doubts, or an outright rejection, of the Copernican theory, starting with Alexander von Humboldt.  Although Bouw admits that Schöpffer is the likely source for this list, I believe there is no doubt that Schöpffer is to be credited for this, not Tischner.  The list is so impressive, that I am devoting an entire later blog post to these famous scientists and Dr. Schöpffer.
      On page 362, Dr. Bouw announces Schöpffer’s final work on the subject:
The most influential of Dr. Schöpffer’s works was written in 1869. It constitutes the foundation of almost every geocentric work published from then to 1950. It was entitled Die Widersprüche in der Astronomie and it was published in Berlin. The full title loosely translates as, “The contradictions in astronomy originating from the acceptance of the Copernican system are vanquished.”
The praise Bouw gives Schöpffer's work is high indeed!  And the book's title sounds a lot like that of Prof. Lindemann's work.
      It is interesting to note that Bouw reports the following about  Schöpffer:
  • "One might expect that Schöpffer would be suppressed by the scientists of his day, but Schöpffer’s work was renowned." (page 362) 
  • "We find then in Schöpffer a geocentrist respected in his time" (page 363) 
He gives an example of Madame Blavatsky with a quote.  However, when one reads Schöpffer’s own words in his final work, quite the opposite was the case among his fellow scientists.  It is understandable that Bouw would miss this as there is no known English translation.  In Schöpffer's own words, in his Widersprüche book, he said:
I was attacked everywhere and nowhere was I permitted to defend myself. Then broke out the dispute known to you between Pastor Knak and Preacher Lisco in Berlin.  Soon I got letters from various sides, my name was again mentioned in the newspapers...
We see that Schöpffer also received the "ridicule of Knak".  I wonder that Schöpffer’s work was what needled the Copernican scientists into feverishly attempting to refute him... which Bouw marvelously describes in detail. (Note: for a preview, one may see the edited text of this book here, then use Google Chrome/Translate.)
     Dr. Bouw has made a good beginning in describing Dr. Carl Schöpffer.  I also believe there is more to be said, more analysis of his scientific qualifications, more about his life. In an upcoming blog post, I will reveal much more from Schöpffer's own book, about the man. – There was a book written in 1874 to praise ridicule Schöpffer (Doctor Schöpffer, der grosse Reformator der Astronomie) but the only copy on WorldCat is in Europe and seems unavailable to me. [2020-12-01: a copy was obtained but found to be in ridicule of Schöpffer] How I would like to know even more of this man! – Dare I say that Dr. Gerardus Bouw is the "Schöpffer" for the twentieth century?  ... or that Schöpffer was the "Gerardus Bouw" of the nineteenth century!  And who will be the next scientist, for the twenty-first century, to defend against Copernicanism... and for the Bible?

In the next Part 13c-2, I review Bouw's coverage of the famous Pastor Knak...

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